Bridges to cross
by Ravenspook
Summary: A mummies alive fanfiction. Set in the beginning of episode 11 The curse of Sekhmet and after. Something is changing unexpectedly but the balance with duty and personal lives has never been easy for any of the guardians. If you like the story it would be great if you let me know. Chapter 2 is up. Edited recently.
1. Chapter 1

Bridges to cross

As they reached the bridge above them and got up on it after she climbed off his back and grabbed the edge, the thought of what could have happened to Nefer-Tina if he had not been fast enough to swing up from the ship and catch her mid fall fom the Golden Gate bridge, made the tone of Raths voice sharp as he turned to the other guardian with a frown. "Nefer-Tina, i told you that you wasted your power when you drove the Hot Ra transformed!"

Nefer-Tina was relived to be out of harms way and felt drained in more ways than one and grateful that he had saved her, but that didnt mean she would just stay silent and take it.

"Rath! I would have had more power left if i hadn't fought all those Shaptis alone!"

Rath did not relent however, there was no way she was getting away with this that easily.

"No Nefertina, it was because you wasted your power before."

She walked up to him. "I thought i could handle it, okay?! Why must you be so-so-ugh!"She threw up her hands, frustrated.

Rath looked equally frustrated. "You could have been seriosly injured, you could even have perished, don't you understand that?! We may be undead guardians but we are not indestructible!" he exclaimed.

"But Rath, i didnt die and..."

She fell silent as she saw up into his green eyes under the Cobra helmet, they held concern but also something else. Something that made her feel all warm inside.

Acting on impulse she stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips as he was about to say something.

Rath stood frozen to the spot, at first taken by surprise, the next thing he knew he wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss with an almost startling fierceness. It lasted just a moment but when it ended, they exchanged a stunned glance. Nefer-Tina felt light headed and excited but conflicted as reality set in. So he does have feelings for me. But this is...I didnt think i'd feel this much for him... Now what?

He recovered his composure first and took a step back as he let go of her.

There was no way he could just deny his feelings after what just happened and he wasnt sure about her feelings maybe she was just thinking of her lost love Apep, but that was a conversation waiting to happen that they had no time for right now.

"We...need to return and warn the others, Scarab did manage to summon someone through the Western gate but i could not stay long enough to find out who." he said, voice thick with barely supressed emotion.

Neftertina stared at him increduosly. "Rath! Shouldnt we talk about the fact that we just kissed?!"

Rath sighed. "We can...discuss that later, right now we..."

She sighed, there was no point pressing it further, for the moment anyway.

He could be so stubbornly focused on their guardian duties sometimes, often pushing personal things aside.

"Yeah, yeah i get it. Lets go then."

The duo hurried to the Hot Ra but when they reached it Nef leaned heavily against the side if it, by Ra was she tired! Emotions running high had not exactly helped in that departement.

"Rath? Can you drive, i'm pooped." she asked and held out the car keys.

He took the keys without a word.

But Osiris knew he had many words he wanted to say to her. He knew a lot of things but romantic relationships had never been something he felt confident about.

He was attracted to her, had been for some time, but that was something he had tried to push aside, remembering the pain from the last time he thought he had fallen in love with someone.

This wasn't a cruel love spell somebody had used on him to gain something however, this was very real but that didnt make it less unsettling.


	2. Chapter 2

After helping Presley out of the moat, loaning him a towel and driving him home, the mummies could finally call it a night.

Ja-kal and Armon had eaten supper and gone to sleep as soon as possible but Rath and Nefertina opted to stay up longer which wasn't unusual for either of them.

The duo stood in the kitchen area putting away some dishes but neither said anything, until Nefer-Tina grew impatient.

"So can we talk about it now, Rath?"

The tall man sighed, but nodded,

"Yes, I suppose it's about time we had that conversation, but I'd rather talk somewhere more private, like the storage chamber if you don't mind?"

The white haired guardian shrugged and started to walk in that direction. "As long as we can finally talk about it."

He followed her far down the hall and closed the door behind them as they entered. It wasn't ideal but it would have to do.

Nef leaned against a shelf but Rath sat down on an empty crate, it had been a long day, and he had drained extra energy by using his magic several times.

The charioteer went straight to the point feeling no need to tiptoe around the topic.

"Are you in love with me?"

Rath met her gaze with a steady one of his own. " Yes, I am in love with you."

The white haired guardian felt a flutter of nervous energy and moved to sit on a second crate opposite of his.

"I never thought you would feel that way about me, Rath."

The sorcerer raised a brow. "Why not? We may bicker like teammates living in close quarters with different personalities sometimes do, but you are sweet, brave, beautiful..." he trailed off, stopping himself before he started to gush.

The woman blushed a darker grey-blue shade.

"Why didn't you say something before?"

He sighed again, there was no turning back now.

"Because I thought that you wouldn't be interested. Then your kiss surprised me. But a kiss can mean more than one thing so why did you kiss me?"

"I saw something in your eyes, a feeling, and wanted to kiss you, then you kissed me back and I realized I have feelings for you." Nefer-Tina explained.

"So you are in love with me..." the tall man said, thoughtfully not exactly too surprised, he had had his doubts but also hopes about the meaning of that kiss but now it was confirmed.

If there was one thing they didn't have it was the certainty of knowing how much time they had left in this existence. So even though Rath was usually a logical person who liked to plan things out, he felt that he didn't want to wait before he asked her the next important question.

"Do you want to be in an actual romantic relationship with me though? Its one thing to be in love but if one or in this case both involved, have a duty that has to come before anything else, it can become very complicated. You might even start to resent me."

The charioteer blinked, moved at the prospect of maybe being in a relationship, but it was his rare show of vulnerability that made her reach out and take his hand, gently squeezing it.

"Oh, Rath. I could never resent you for doing your duty protecting the prince. And I know you could never resent me for doing the same. And yes, I want to be with you."

Rath smiled and gently squeezed her hand back. "I want to be with you as well Nefer-Tina, and you are correct, I would never resent you for choosing to do your duty either."

The charioteer smirked. "Did you just say I was right about something?!"

The sorcerer raised a brow, "Apparently I did. Do you want to write it down on paper, frame it and hang it up on the wall? Unless of course I can...persuade you not to?" he said, the tone of his voice softening as he looked meaningfully from her eyes to her lips.

She let go of his hand and scooted the short distance into his lap, reaching up to put her arms around his neck. "Oh, I think you can persuade me, hotshot."

The green eyed man embraced her, tilted his head before leaning down to meet her lips in a kiss. This one was more tender and longer, more exploring than the first one had been.

When they paused, Nef sighed contentedly and was in no hurry to leave her comfortable spot on his lap.

"Let's not tell the others about this, not yet anyway, Armon would congratulate us but you know how concerned Ja-kal can get, even if it's not forbidden for two guardians to have a relationship.

Rath enjoyed the intimate moment, having her so close but looked a bit troubled when she talked about the others.

"I don't like keeping things from Ja-kal and Armon even though it is something between us that is private, but I agree. Besides, Ja-kal has enough matters he feels he has to worry about without adding one more. And we have to keep it from the young prince as well."

They sat in comfortable silence a moment, letting the surprising turn of events sink in further.

The sorcerer looked thoughtful and a bit troubled as he spoke, "Do you think we can make this relationship last, though?"

Nefer-Tina looked more serious now, "I hope so Rath, but we can't go on talking to one another the way we do sometimes. Too much sarcasm is never a good thing."

Rath nodded, "A lot of it was the tension between us i think but yes I can be-you can be ahem we can be too sarcastic toward one another sometimes."

The charioteer continued, "One more thing, you need to leave the whole "class" thing where it belongs Rath, in the ancient world. Do you think you can do that?"

He heaved a sigh.

"Ah...as much as i hate to admit it you are right about the old class system."

"The more i learn about the concept of democracy and the longer we live here the more i understand that it's time to move on from it. So, yes, I think that can be left behind."

The tall man held up an index finger, "With one notable exception, if our Pharaoh Amenhotep returns from the other side, he is still my king by oath and Rapses is still the prince i owe allegiance to."

The white haired guardian smiled, "Oh, of course, Rath! i feel the same." She didn't mention that while her allegiance was still with Amenhotep and Rapses, she wanted to live her own life alongside her duties as much as possible.

Rath held her closer and planted a small kiss on her lips. "I'm glad, now lets go get some much needed rest before Ja-kal gets up and comes looking for us."

Nefer-Tina kissed him back and reluctantly left his lap. "Mm, yes resting sounds great, I am dead on my feet."

"Indeed you are." He commented, mildly amused.

The woman swatted him on the arm playfully.

TBC.


End file.
